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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385514">Keep Me In the Open</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/storieswelove/pseuds/storieswelove'>storieswelove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, and technically a King of Attolia coda, there's more kissing than you'd think for 600 words, they're just really cute and in love okay?, this is like actual literal pure fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:08:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/storieswelove/pseuds/storieswelove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The King and Queen hide out in the royal apartments before dinner. Eugenides is exhausted and distracted.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Attolia | Irene/Eugenides</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Keep Me In the Open</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Me? Finishing a one-shot because I can't edit my actual WIPs? Sounds fake. </p><p>Title from "Keep Me In The Open" by Gang of Youths, which is a <i>deeply</i> Gen/Irene song.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The late afternoon light seeping in through her window tells Irene that her attendants will be knocking any minute to dress her for dinner. But her husband, arms wrapped around her, hand pressed into the small of her back, face buried in her neck, shows no signs of leaving. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> Attolis, and now everyone in the palace knows it. It has been a long day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eugenides, you need to go. I’m sure your attendants are already threatening to break down your door.” She makes no moves to extract herself from his embrace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eugenides raises his hand to her cheek, angling her face down for a kiss. Irene is expecting sweet and gentle, but instead his mouth is hot and insistent on hers. When he pulls back, he rests his forehead against hers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if,” he says, low and conspiratorial. “We shirk our responsibilities and skip dinner?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dropping his hand to her waist, he moves his attention to the long column of her throat, mouthing delicately at the tendons along the side. Despite her intention to protest, Irene has already put her hands on his waist to steady herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her voice, however, is unaffected. “You think that wise after your show in the training yard this morning?” She remembers Ornon’s comment about her husband shirking even the most basic of responsibilities and has to stifle a laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmmm, does being king not so much as buy me time alone with my wife?” he hums against the sensitive spot just behind her right ear, and she can’t repress her shudder. He chuckles against the same spot, breath warm. “Anyway, I’m very tired. Couldn’t possibly make it through dinner with the entire court. I might fall asleep in front of everyone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Irene snorts. “It would hardly be the first time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He bites gently on her earlobe, and Irene realizes he’s managed to take off her earring without her noticing. Her grip on his waist tightens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Surely you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> tired?” she asks. She is not just worried about physical fatigue. She is still worried she’s pushed him too far past his limits.   </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of answering, Eugenides switches his attention to her left side, arm now wrapped around the back of her neck. Under the guise of pulling her close, he removes the other golden bee, mouthing at her ear before she has time to note the loss of weight, despite anticipating it. His breathing is loud and heavy in her ear. That, more than anything, makes her breath hitch— he knows her weakness and he uses it well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Infuriatingly, he pulls away, and leans back just enough to look her in the eye. “Exhausted,” he admits, answering the question she forgot she’d asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She back smiles softly, but before she can say anything, he kisses her again lightly. Smiling against her mouth, he says, “But I would much rather use what little energy I have to make love to my wife, than entertain the insufferable court.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He…has a point. She kisses him with more heat than they’d started out with, and when she bites down on the column of his neck, he lets out a groan that sends a wave of want through her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The knock on her door surprises them both, but it’s Irene who groans in frustration. Of course her indecision is what spurs him into action. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, very well,” he says, conceding with all the petulance not of The Thief of Eddis, but the King of Attolia. “But no dancing. I need to conserve my energy.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With one last infuriatingly long, slow kiss certainly designed to make dinner feel like an eternity, he leaves, slipping through the hidden door in the wood paneling, and into the hallway that connects their bedrooms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If she can’t steal him privacy, she can at least help preserve the illusion. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!! I'm on the hunt for prompts, as long as you don’t mind if it takes me a couple months to fill them! Come scream about QT with me on tumblr @ <a href="storieswelove.tumblr.com">storieswelove</a>!</p><p>Cross posted on tumblr <a href="https://storieswelove.tumblr.com/post/628841982488461312/keep-me-in-the-open-the-queens-thief-archive">here</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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